"Stuff is eaten by dogs, broken by family and friends, sanded down by the wind, frozen by the mountains, lost by the prairie, burnt off by the sun, washed away by the rain. So you are left with dogs, family, friends, sun, rain, wind, prairie and mountains. What more do you want?"
Federico Calboli

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Eastern Hounds

Another variation on the endless theme of our landrace, dogs that the conventional might immediately insist is another "breed". Our Asia, mostly sighthound group knows better, and collectively provided some background. They were found by Mia who said, "These photos are taken in India... The photographer says they call them "Afghan fighter hounds", because that's what they were used for."

Their similarity of the black ones to the Kyrgiz taigan and the Khalag- type tazi is obvious; the lighter one is a more conventionally tazi or saluki type.

UPDATE: I am, I hope temporarily, taking down the Indian dogs while the person who I got them from seeks permission. Meanwhile, more variations...

Jutta from Germany re the Indian hounds: "I´ve heard that name from Neil, a young Indian who lives in Canada... Neil explained that they came with Afghan people to India about 200 years ago. They were not used for hunt but for fighting."

Ali Hasnain from Pakistan, who has both similar dogs and relatives of ours: "They look a lot like Khalag Tazys. I didn't know the Khalag went as far east into India. This is entirely possible because there was active land trade with Afghanistan before 1947 when the sub continent was partitioned into two countries. Land trade continues between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the tribes on the border regarded the boundary (the Durrand Line) as a paper formality. Since all the troubles in Afghanistan in many places its become a more formal reality and you don't really want to go where it isn't. Of course the Caravan Hounds & Pashmis are supposed to have entered India with Afghan or Moghul tribes and naturalized. I think they are found in the Deccan plateau. In former Princely India the Nizam of Hyderabad Deccan used to employ Arabs from Oman as mercenaries, perhaps that may account for the Pashmis entry into the Deccan."

Mark in Scotland, pictured below with Lauren: "Strong hounds! The various websites dedicated to the Taigan also mention their use in dog fights."

Seems strange, but they are big and fierce, and the "dogfights" of Central Asian culture are more like wrestling-- feats of strength rather than battles to the death.

Taigan for comparison.

Mixed group, Kyrgizstan.

One of Ali's photos

And here is a Kyrgiz feast. Remind me to blog on a similar meal, complete with sheep skull, later...